I Faked My Death To Escape the Don

Before Adrian left the bedroom, he told me Bianca would be staying at the estate for a while.

“She’s in poor health, and someone has already tracked her once. This is the safest place in Chicago.” He held my hand, his thumb brushing my wedding ring. “Mara, my feelings for you haven’t changed. She simply needs our help.”

I did not argue.

Only after the door had been closed behind him for a long time did I call Nora in. “Bring me the estate accounts, the vault permissions, and the family trust records.”

Nora saw the medical consent form on the desk, and her eyes immediately reddened. “Have you really decided to take the drug?”

I placed the authorization card and encrypted key in a wooden box. For seven years, I had managed every Vescari account, cared for Adrian’s gravely ill mother while he fought a family war in Europe, and used my maternal trust to rescue the family from a cash crisis. Now that Bianca was back, everything received under her name had to be returned.

Nora picked up the medical consent form, her fingers trembling. “The doctor said the drug is dangerous even under constant supervision. Once you take it, you may truly never wake up.”

“It’s only supposed to put me into a long sleep.”

I slowly closed the ledger. “When I wake, Bianca will be the Bellandi heir again, and Adrian will no longer be caught between us. Everyone will have what they want.”

Nora could not stop herself from asking, “And what about you?”

I was silent for a moment. “This relationship was built on a lie from the beginning. I walked into the church in Bianca’s place, and Adrian kept me because of the truce agreement. Seven years of this mistake is enough.”

Nora finally began to cry. She picked up another document from the desk. “You even prepared this?”

It was a signed separation agreement and property waiver. I would leave Adrian, claim nothing from the Vescari family, and never again appear as his wife. Once my staged death succeeded, Mara Bellandi would cease to exist.

“Are you really willing to give up even your name?”

I folded the papers. “My family declared me dead seven years ago. It makes no difference what name a dead woman uses.”

Footsteps sounded in the hall. Bianca entered with two guards, still pale and smiling apologetically. “Am I interrupting?” Her gaze settled on the ledgers. “Adrian said the Bellandi trust was established in my name. Since I’m back, I should take over. I’ve been gone too long, so I had to ask you.”

Nora clenched her fists, but I pushed the ledgers across the desk. “Everything is here. Take them.”

Bianca opened the file, then looked at my throat. “That white opal necklace was Mother’s wedding gift to me.”

My hand rose to the pendant. Adrian had fastened it around my neck the morning after our wedding, studying my reflection before saying white suited me. I had worn it for seven years, believing it was his first gift to me. Even this necklace had belonged to Bianca first.

She came closer. “You wore it for me for seven years. Don’t you think it is time to give it back?”

For the first time since her return, I refused her. “You can have everything else. I want to keep this.”

Tears immediately filled Bianca’s eyes. “I only asked. If you don’t want to return it, forget it.” She lightly touched her chest. “You’ve already taken so many things that belonged to me during these seven years.”

Adrian’s voice came from the doorway. “Bianca.”

He entered, exhaustion etched between his brows. “Don’t say that.”

Bianca lowered her head and fell silent.

Adrian stopped in front of me, his gaze resting on the pendant. “Mrs. Bellandi did prepare it for Bianca. She’s emotionally unstable right now. Give it back for the time being, and I’ll have another one made for you.”

I held the necklace tightly. “It was the first keepsake of our marriage—the first thing that made me believe what we had was real.”

His expression softened. “I remember. Mara, our seven years were real. Returning something that should have belonged to Bianca cannot change that.”

He reached behind my neck to undo the clasp. Several strands of hair caught in the metal, and I turned away at the sting. Adrian stopped at once, murmured, “I’m sorry,” then carefully freed them.

The necklace still left my neck. He handed it to Bianca.

She saw the strands of hair caught in the clasp and frowned. “Forget it. She’s worn it against her skin for seven years. It’s filthy. I don’t want it anymore.”

She opened her hand. The white opal struck the marble and shattered into several pieces.

The room fell silent.

Adrian’s face darkened. “Enough, Bianca.”

Her eyes reddened. “It only reminded me of all the years I lost.”

After a moment of silence, Adrian did not rebuke her again. He only told the guards to escort her back to her room. Before leaving, he looked at me. “I’ll replace it with something better. Don’t take this as a denial of our past. I simply owe her an explanation.”

My hair hung loose around my shoulders as I nodded. “All right.”

Adrian hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more. Before he could speak, Bianca suddenly clutched her chest and broke into a violent coughing fit.

“Bianca?”

Adrian immediately caught her by the shoulders. She leaned weakly against him, struggling for breath.

He glanced back at me. “I’ll come back later.”

Then he steadied Bianca and left the room with her.

Only after their footsteps disappeared did I crouch to gather the fragments. Nora hurried to stop me. “Don’t touch them. They’ll cut you.”

The sharp edge of the opal had already sliced my palm, and blood slowly stained the white stone. I did not let go. “It’s better broken.” Looking at the shattered pendant in my hand, I whispered, “Now I won’t see it someday and mistake those seven years for something that ever belonged to me.”